Jatindra Nath Das also known as Jatin Das, was an Indian independence activist and revolutionary. He died in Lahore jail after a 63-day hunger strike.
He was born in 1904 at Calcutta. He joined the Anushilan Samiti in Bengal at a young age and also participated in Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation movement in 1921 at the tender age of just 17.
In November 1925, while studying for a B.A. at Bangabasi College in Calcutta, he was arrested for his political activities and was imprisoned at the Mymensingh Central Jail.
While interned there, he went on a hunger strike to protest the ill-treatment meted out to the political prisoners. After fasting for twenty days, the Jail Superintendent apologised and he gave up the fast.
He was contacted by revolutionaries in other parts of India and agreed to participate in bomb-making for Bhagat Singh and comrades. Sachindra Nath Sanyal taught him how to make bombs.
On 14 June 1929 he was arrested for revolutionary activities and was imprisoned in Lahore jail to be tried under the supplementary Lahore Conspiracy Case.
In Lahore jail, Das began a hunger strike along with other revolutionary fighters, demanding equality for Indian political prisoners with those from Europe.
Das’s hunger strike started on 13 July 1929 and lasted 63 days. The jail authority took measures to forcibly feed him and the other independence activist. Eventually, the jail committee recommended his unconditional release, but the government rejected the suggestion and offered to release him on bail.
Jatin died on 13 September 1929. Durga Bhabhi led the funeral procession, which went from Lahore to Calcutta by train. Thousands of people rushed to the railway stations to pay homage to Das. A two-mile long procession in Calcutta carried the coffin to the cremation ground.
It was Subhash Chandra Bose, who received the coffin of Das at Howrah Railway Station and led the funeral procession to the cremation ground.
Subhas Chandra Bose described Das as the “young Dadhichee of India”, referring to the well known mythological yogi Dadhichee who sacrificed his life for the sake of killing a demon.
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